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About Us

Our Story

There are two ways to get ahead in the patent profession, send us your resume or ask your boss to send us his/her resume.

William K. McLaughlin Associates has specialized in recruiting patent attorneys, patent agents and trademark attorneys since 1966. We are headhunters for entities with intellectual property (IP) that must be protected; but we really are information brokers for the patent profession. We rely on our 55+ years of data on employers and candidates to help you find the right job or hire the best professional. We have placed thousands of patent attorneys in the US, Europe, and Asia. What differentiates William K. McLaughlin Associates, Inc. from other recruiters is our deep knowledge of the patent profession and the long-term relationships with candidates and employers that we have developed.

Most patent attorneys do not come to us to find a new job because they want to earn $10 - $20K more. Candidates come to us because they do not like the way they have been treated by their employers.

We often say that we make a living from personality conflicts.

We know which Chief Patent Counsels and Partners get the best out of their people by being visionary as opposed to those that mute productivity due to uninspiring management. This information is helpful to employers when they are looking to hire the best Chief Patent Counsel to manage their department and to employees who value mentorship.

We have counseled and guided many patent attorneys from the time that they were entry level or out of law school to the partner level or Chief Patent Counsel level. There are multiple firms and job-hunters who have paid us the biggest compliment by providing us with repeat business or referrals – including placing their own child decades after we’ve first placed them.

Our job at William K. McLaughlin Associates, Inc. is to make a great match and to lower your risk level when you, as an employer or as a candidate, are deliberating whether to make or accept an offer. We share with you the unspoken institutional knowledge to make an informed decision.

The background information we have comes from the thousands of hours spent speaking with candidates and employers over the past five decades. Simply put, we help our clients and candidates to make better decisions. Please call us on 1-800-728-1964 or email us at information@wkmclaughlin.com to discuss your hiring needs or to discuss job openings suitable for your career goals.

Our History

Our History

Many of our contacts and the people who we have placed are now Chief Patent Counsels and Partners all over the world. The people who we have placed are now our hiring contacts. We have placed some patent attorneys two or three times during their careers and helped them to achieve their long-term professional goals.

We are the “complaint department” for the patent profession, and we know what the turnover record is among patent attorneys at most law firms and corporations.

Many patent attorneys have held a couple of jobs - some have had five or more. When you multiply the number of candidates in our files by the number of jobs they have had, we wind up hearing and cataloging thousands of opinions on every law firm. We know what morale is like at most law firms or corporate legal departments in the US.

We can discern which companies and law firms will deliver on their promises and which will disappoint their new IP hire. Our “naughty and nice” list helps us match the best candidates to the best places to work to provide the most stable fit for all parties.

Additionally, we track the turnover of not only the law firms and companies but also the work experience related to a particular patent manager or Patent Partner. There are a lot of wonderful companies, law firms, Chief Patent Counsels and Partners to work for; there are a lot of awful ones as well. How much better are your chances at success with these types of insights?

Since the start of the pandemic, most interviews only last a couple of hours via Zoom. That is not a lot of time. Is it sufficient time to reveal enough information for an employer to decide whether to make an offer? Is it enough time for a candidate to gauge how well the “fit” is?

Our History

Some Highlights

  • A database searchable by skill (such as patent prep/pros, licensing, litigation, IPRs, oppositions) or technical area (for example 5G, Semiconductors, Cloud Computing, Polymers, Genomics, etc.)
  • Have placed multiple Chief Patent Counsels with Fortune 500 companies and start-ups who could have retired when their stock options vested but continued to work for years because they loved their jobs.
  • Have helped grow multiple law firms from a few initial founders to 25+ attorneys.
  • Have placed over 50 patent attorneys with more than one company.
  • Placed an in-house litigator who not only reversed two large patent litigations but also amassed a 12-0 patent win record worth hundreds of millions to the company
  • Have ongoing conversations with thousands of industry professionals – employers and employees alike. As a result, we know which firms and companies have a strong culture and live their values.
Our History

Confidentiality

When you send us your resume, it will be treated confidentially. Your name, background and current affiliation will not be released to any prospective employer without your permission. It is understood that permission is granted on an employer-by-employer basis. Each employer will be advised that information pertaining to your background, as well as the inquiry itself, is to be held in strict confidence. Upon your request, we will sign and send you a confidentiality letter.

Contact Us

Testimonial

I just wanted to reach out on my first day and thank you so much for all your help over the last few weeks. You are the job whisperer! You made what should have been a very stressful time into an absolute breeze with your support, guidance, and counsel. I cannot thank you enough for all your help, both in landing me at Nantero way back in 2008 and then helping me find a place at GTC now. John, you are the best!

Jason T

Testimonial

We are pleased to share with you our press release regarding the recent Law 360 analysis and article naming or firm in the top 25 of all law firms nationwide of our size for minority attorneys. John, I would like to thank you personally for your support in recruiting and your ongoing help in our efforts to reach our diversity and inclusion goals. We are very grateful for the relationship, and our entire team would like to extend our thanks.

Registered Patent Attorney & Principal